Contents

Originally, Peter Brooke of Creature Shop hired Vin Burnham in January of 2010 to design a dress to be worn during the "Battling a Paparazzo" with The Fame Monster. During the creative process, the dress became instead the one used during "So Happy I Could Die" on "The Monster Ball" in 2010 to 2011. The dress was finalized and debuted on February 24, 2010 in Liverpool which was the 5th show of the tour.

The Creature Shop was contacted by the Haus of Gaga to make the monster for the finale of the second version of the Monster Ball. Peter Brooke and Jamie Campbell were the main designers for the creature.
Lady Gaga explained that the whole story behind the choice of fish is that when she was younger, the angler fish was one of her biggest fears. She says that it's really great defeating her fear every night of the show. A second possible explanation behind an angler fish being "The Fame Monster" might be to use it feeding process as a metaphor on the effect of fame. Fishes are attracted to the angler's light, only to have the angler eat it when it gets too close, just like at people are attracted to fame, only to get killed by the paparazzi. It is a similar theme that was previously used by Gaga with her performance of "Paparazzi" at the MTV Video Music Awards of 2009.

The Fame Monster (also known as the "Angler Fish") can be discribed as being a cross between a deep-sea angler fish and an octopus. Originally, the Haus wanted eight tentacles but the Creature Shop crew talked them down to six. It took four weeks to build the creature. According to Tim Rose of Creature Shop, "the creature itself probably weighed in at two-thirds of a ton. That had to be counterbalanced so it would float in the air, so it had a ton and a half of stage weights behind it." Each tenteacle can move with two to three dancers assigned to it wearing a black suit.

The Fame Monster debuted during the "Battling a Paparazzo" scene with a performance of "Paparazzi" on the opening date of the revamped Monster Ball on February 18, 2010. It was used on all the dates throughout 2010 to 2011. On February 18 and the 20th, The Fame Monster had no lights inside of it teeths nor eyes and it antenna. Instead, the stage was fully illuminated which made the dancers controlling it visible on the stage. After the first show, Gaga posted on Twitter: "http://twitpic.com/14490i - THE MONSTER BALL: POST-OPERATION. In a scene titled: "Battling a Paparazzo" See P1 below.

Before arriving to the Monster Ball, Gaga and her friends get lost once again. This time, her friends have enough and decide to call it quit, leaving Gaga alone in the dark. When the song, "Paparazzi" begins, the fish appears out of the darkness and its eyes, mouth, and antenna light up, glowing yellow. During the performance Lady Gaga tells the arena that it's called The Fame Monster. As the song continues it 'takes off' Gaga's skirt, revealing a leotard. Gaga then puts her a Pyro-Bra and panties and kills the Monster with help from her fans, because she "can't kill the Monster ball by myself... You have your cameras. Take his picture!!"